Reply to:     RE>>dear tekdive@ho*

Rich and Kevin,

The pocket idea you mention works. I use pockets on my nearly hogarthian rig
as it put weight inthe right places when a V weight is not enough (like a single
cylinder or my twin steel 72's (for when I do not need the 104's))

 I made mine out of canvas re-enforced with webbing. They have been very 
durable and allow the use of hard or soft weights (depending on what is
available)
They weight is also supported by the backplate so I do not have the weightbelt
fatigue that makes diving a drag. 

I need my rig a bit negative as I am doing cold (but not freezing) 
water diving (Californina) (drysuit, thermals, you get the picture)

Steve
------------------------------
Date: 1/15/98 8:54 AM
To: Hogan, Steve
From: Richard Pyle


> Ok Rich.  Let's here how you balance a diving system that utilizes a drysuit.

I've never worn a drysuit, but if I did, I would probably find a way to
add the lead to my body.  I would not put all of it on the weight belt,
becasue that messes up the balance, and in the event the weight belt needs
to be dumped (or is accidentally lost), the diver has a very serious
problem.  I would probably get pockets installed in appropriate places
(too keep the center of buoyancy close to the center of my body) and stuff
soft weights in them. 

How much weight do you need to offset a drysuit?  Geroge says his rig is 
about 20 lbs negative, which he says is just about right - in which case 
I would probably put about 8-10 lbs on the waist belt, and stick 3 or 4 
3-lb soft weights in pockets somewhere on my chest and thighs. Of course, 
you also have the argon bottle to work with - don't some drysuit guys put 
those in a pocket on the thigh?

Maybe other drysuits require something like 40 lbs of lead to make the 
diver neutral - like for cold water diving.  I can see where this might 
present a more serious problem. That might require a more clever 
solution, like sewn-in sheet lead or something.

Actually, it seems to me that making the diver neutral is the easy part.  
The tricky part is making the rig statically neutral.

Most steel tanks are neutral or negative underwater, which means the 
whole rig (with backplate, manifolds, regulators, etc.) is pretty 
negative.  You could play with PVC pipes, but I would prefer something 
like syntactic foam. People are talking about putting wedge weights 
between the cylinders, and noby is calling that convoluted.  Why not make 
syntactic foam wedges instead?

When I used to do OC trimix dives, my solution was to use aluminum 100cf 
primary cylinders. My whole rig (with aluminum ponies and all regulators) 
was about 2 lbs negative at the end of the dive, with BC deflated.  It 
was almost perfectly neutral with all cylinders empty.

Unfortunately, most people don't like to use aluminum primaries, because 
the don't feel as comfortable about over-filling them as the do with 
over-filling 104's.

Does this help answer your question?

Aloha,
Rich

Richard Pyle
Ichthyology, Bishop Museum                deepreef@bi*.bi*.ha*.or*
1525 Bernice St.                          PH: (808) 848-4115
Honolulu, HI 96817-0916                   FAX: (808) 841-8968
       "The views are those of the sender and not of Bishop Museum"

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